Kerala to include Plan Panel guidelines in Infrastructure Bill

Kochi, Sep 19 (UNI) The Kerala Government will amend the proposed Infrastructure Bill as per the Planning Commission guidelines and consider appointing a nodal officer for public private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects, Principal Secretary, Industries, T Balakrishnan said today.

Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of a conference here, he said the propopsed Infrastructure Bill, which was first mooted in 2005, had been referred to the select committee of the Assembly.

With the Planning Commission recently issuing guidelines on ensuring transparency in the bidding process and the model concession agreements for PPP projects, these would now be incorporated in the proposed bill, he said.

The experiences of states like Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, which had already formulated comprehensive policies for infrastructure development, would be taken into account, he said adding the government would also consider appointing a nodal officer to ensure smooth execution of PPP projects.

The state, which had successfully executed PPP projects such as the Mattancherry Bridge in Kochi and the Nedumbaserry International Airport, was planning several other infrastructure projects.

These included the Vizhinjam Port Project, Kannur airport, Cochin Metro, Knowledge Cities, logistics and transport hub, electronic manufacturing park, IT SEZs at Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kasargod and Kochi and a Life Science Park at Thiruvananthapuram.

Minor ports were also proposed to be developed with private sector participation at Alappuzha, Azhikkal, Beypore and Thankassery, he said.

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